Housing and lubricating means for chains



April 23, 1935. J. F. McCANN HOUSING AND LUBRICATING MEANS FOR CHAINS Filed Oct. 16, 1934 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 23, 1935 1,998,682

UNITED m ster critics."

HOUSING AND LUBRICATING MEANS FOR CHAINS John F. McCann, Springfield, Mass.

7 Application October 16, 1934, Serial No. 748,491

' 6 Claims. (01. 184-45) This invention relates to improvements in chain iceable over a much longer period of time than is drives and is directed more particularly to imw POSSibIeprovements in housing and lubricating means for As another feature of the invention, the chain drive ha and lubricating means may be enclosed in a housfIfhe principal objects of the invention of this ing not only to protect the chain but a part of -5 application are'direoted to the provision of no el the housing serves to support the lubricating means for housing and for lubricating driving means disposed adjacent the slack run of the Chains such as are employed in connection with chain in such a way that the chain is supported driving and driven sprocket members. in a straight line substantially tangential to the Whilethe invention will b des ib d h r insprockets supporting it. In'this way the chain 10 'e ter in connection .with the chain of a motorit not only held against jumping off the sprockets cycle, it will be understood that the novel feabut the housing for at reason m y be of minitures thereof are adapted for use in connection mum Sizev and pleasing in appearance I With endless chains and sprockets in generaL Various novel features and. advantages of; the

To facilit t a' i understanding of t vel invention will be hereinafter more fully referred 15 features of the invention it is desired to point out to in connection w e a mpa d pthat chains such as usedon motorcycles and the tion of the preferred form thereof, reference like are usually exposed, so that excessive wear ing had t th eeeempahyving drawing Whereini takes place resulting in excessive elongation of 1 is a Small Scale, more e S a the chain which is decidedly objectionable. This matic, elevational view of a motorcycle having 20 is because dust, grit and other abrasive substances t Revel at of the invention associated find their way into the chain joints and cause therewith; j stiffness which results in the excessive Wear men- 2 s lohgitudihal Seetiehel elevationel 'tioned. v 7 view through a housing for a chain drive having 25 Lubricants of all kinds have been applied to X- the lubricating means of the invention associated 20 posed chains but'thelubricating material is not therewith; i only quickly thrown off but it tends to ll t Fig. 3 is a sectional e'levational view at an dust, dirt, and grit, 'etc., which Works into the nla scale taken n h line 33 o Fi chain joints. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional elevational Attempts have hitherto been made to lubricate View through th lubricating means Shown in 30 driving chains by housing them in casings 0011- taining a bath of lubricant, but these attempts Fi 5 is a plan view of a section o the have not been satisfactory for the reason that the engaging Wiping member Of the b at chain tends to throw on the lubricant while the device; and

housings are not only prone to leak but must be 6 ie a Sectional p View a n rou h 35 made unnecessarily large and of such shape as to t e a p Of h housing Shown in accommodate the slack run of the chain which Referring now to t drawing m in d results in unsightly housings. p the invention will be fully described.

According to one feature of this invention, there AS previously Stated, the invention will be is provided means forlubricating a chain which scribed'in connection with the chain drive of a includes a perforated wiping strip on which a motorcycle but it will be readily appreciated that considerable portion of the chain, such as the the invention is adapted for b o epplieatien slack run, may slide. The said strip is superposed and that the description thereof in connection on a member, such as a fibrous pad, which is with a motorcycle is for purposes of disclosure.

more or less yieldable and capable of containing In Fi 1 there is S w e S diaglemlubricant. 1 I matically, a motorcycle M, having a power plant The action of the chain in operation is such ep es d by The rear wheel 2 0f themOtOT? that its centrifugal force moment causes it to Cycle is u y the driving W eel and, as is compress more or less on the wiping strip or by sucmon practice, this wheel is driven from the power tion or capillary action causes the lubricant to shaft by means of a chain and sprockets associ- 50 00 e through the perforations of the strip. In ated with the said wheel and power shaft. this way the lubricant works into the parts of the A housing or casing enclosing the chain and chain such as thepins, bushings, rollers and links sprockets referred to is indicated generally by H whereby wear of the chain is reduced, elongation and is shown at a larger scale and in section in is substantially eliminated and the chain is serv- Fig. 2. v i

A sprocket 4 which may be referred to as the driving sprocket and shown in Fig. 2 is the one associated with the power plant while a sprocket 6 which may be the driven sprocket is the one associated with the rear wheel. An endless driving chain passes around and engages the teeth of the sprockets 4 and 5 so that the sprocket 6 and the wheel 2 are propelled by the chain and driver.

The housing H may consist of a forward section lirand a rear section 8 which are arranged for telescopic action so that the rear section may be moved forward and back relative to the other section lil. Slots may be provided in a wall or walls of the housing sections through which clamp bolts or screws l2 extend for clamping the housing sections together.

With drives for motorcycles it is often nec essary to adjust the rear wheel by moving it back and forth. Also with drives of this type in connection with other driving and driven units it is necessary to move the units relative to one another. For these reasons with the drive chain and sprockets enclosed in a housing it is desirable that the housing be adjustable. In this case the adjustment of the housing is accomplished by moving the one section of the housing back and forth relative to the other section.

A seal l8 is provided around the hub 20 of the sprocket 6 which may take the form of a ring.

rality of pivoted together links 33, and driving elements 32 which engage between the teeth of the sprockets. The driving elements may be rollers or bushings or whatever .may be desired but in any case the pivotal connections such as rivets or pins 3 4 with rollers or bushings and links are continually working one on the other in the operation of the drive so that unless adequately lubricatedappreciable wear results. A very small amount of Wear of each-chainjoint, when multiplied by the number of joints in the chain, seriously impairs the chain because it becomes elon gated in its total length very appreciably.

By housing the drive, as described, the chain is not subjected to the abrasive action of dirt-,grit, dust and abrasives of all kinds which tend to cause stiffening of the chain joints and the consequent wear, while the housing is adapted to serve as a support for the chain lubricating means now to be described.

Awiping strip 4 0 is provided which is'preferably of some flexible material such as a thin metallic strip. This strip is held in position by having a portion thereof such as an end 46 secured to the housing.

This strip .6 is preferably of such a width that it contacts with the rollers or bushings 32 of the chain between the links, and is not necessarily in contact with the links. The strip may extend partly around one of the sprockets such as the driving sprocket 4 and along the chain to a point adjacent the other sprocket and it is perforated as at 42. V

A pad 48 is disposed behind or beneath the strip 45 and preferably consists of some relativelyyieldablematerial capable of containing lubricant. For instance, the pad 48 may be of fibrous material such as felt or the like which will give up the lubricant contained therein when the strip 40 is urged thereagainst.

The strip 49 and pad will preferably extend along the slack run of the chain as distinguished from the tight or driving run.

In operation, as the run of the chain slides along the strip, it bears more or less thereon to press the strip against the pad. The action is such that lubricant oozes from the pad and through the perforations of the strip and onto the chain. In this way lubricant is supplied the pivotal connections, bushings and other working parts of the chain continuously during. the operations thereof.

In such a chain drive as is illustrated the lower run, which is the slack run, tends to bulge outwardlybetween the sprockets. This bulging of the chain often results in the chains jumping a tooth or teeth of the sprockets but, according to this invention, the housing is formed to support the lubricating means to prevent the chain from bulging out. In fact, as is illustrated, the lower run of the-chain is held in a substantial straight line which is tangential to the sprockets-so that any tendency of the chain to bulgecauses itzto press on the strip 40- whereby the mostefficient lubricating effects may be obtained. I

As before stated, the invention may be-- used in connection with chains and sprocket drives of various types. It is however particularly adapted for use in connection with motorcycles where thechain is ordinarily exposed and therefore subjected to very severeconditions inthat it collects grit, dirt, dust and abrasives :of all kinds which tend to bring about stifinesspf the chain joints and the consequent wear and re suiting elongation. u r

As an example of the utilityof the. lubricating means of the invention, it is desired to refer to these facts. A motorcycle, having a drive such as described, was operated with a lubricating de vice of the invention associated with the chain over a period of 400 hours during which period the chain was adequately lubricated The total elongation of the chain during. this LOO-hour period was no more than .020" inch. Then the lubricating mechanism was removed to expose the chain and it was subjectedto the same ope'ratingconditions for a period of 40 hours. During this 40 hour period and without lubricant, the total elongation of the chain became .539 inch, an increase of .519 inch during. the 400 hours of operation referred to. v

While I have described the invention in great detail and with respect to a preferredform thereof, it is not desired to be limited thereto since many changes and modifications maybe made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. What it is desired to claim and secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. Lubricating means for lubricating a driving chain comprising in combination, a relatively rigid support, a pad of yieldable fibrous material thereon for containing lubricant, and a perforated relatively flexible strip on said pad along which a chain may slide whereby lubricant is supplied said chain.

2. Lubricating means for a chain engaging driving and driven sprockets comprising in combination, a relatively rigid support, a pad of yieldable material adapted to contain lubricant and a strip of perforated metal adapted to be engaged by a run of the chain, the said strip being yieldable to press on said pad whereby lubricant is caused to pass through the perforations thereof onto said chain.

3. The combination of an endless chain and sprockets with lubricating means therefor comprising, a relatively flexible perforated strip extending along a run of said chain over one side of which said chain slides and a yieldable member capable of containing lubricant onthe opposite side of said strip adapted to supply lubricant to the chain through the perforations of said strip.

4. The combination of an endless chain and sprockets with lubricating means therefor com-. prising, a relatively flexible perforated strip extending along a run of said chain having a side over which said chain slides, a yieldable member of fibrous material capable of containing lubricant at the other side of said strip and a relatively rigid support for said yieldable member at the side thereof remote from said strip.

5. The combination with an endless chain and spaced sprockets of a motorcycle of, a support extending along a run of said chain, a pad of yieldable material capable of containing lubricant on said support and a relatively flexible strip of perforated metal on said pad on which said run of the chain slides.

6. The combination of an endless chain and spaced sprockets of a motorcycle with, a housing enclosing said chain and sprockets having a supporting part for lubricating means, a pad of 10' lubricant absorbing material on said supporting part, and a strip of perforated metal on said pad along which the said chain slides, the said strip being depressible by said chain to cause lubricant therein to pass through the perfora- 15 tions thereof into said chain.

JOHN F. McCANN. 

